From Great Heights
by ohmytheon
Summary: During an "experiment" to test the effects of alcohol, Stein learns one of Marie's greatest wishes: to do the same things tall people do.


**SteinMarie Week Day 1: Smol/Tol**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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 _From Great Heights_

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What had started out as an "experiment" had eventually dissolved after the second hour. He had been serious in finding out how alcohol effected the soul bond between Meister and Weapon, especially when it came to the size difference between him and Marie. An even more curious query had been if alcohol would change Marie's ability to transform into her Weapon form. Her density as a hammer was unique, considering that only two people so far had been capable of picking her up. She was lighter in Stein's hands than she was in Kami's, but then impossibly heavy for other kids in their DWMA class. It would be interesting to find out these things.

Well, it would've been interesting had things not deteriorated after they cracked open the third bottle of wine.

Not used to drinking alcohol, Marie had insisted on wine being used if she were to participate in the experiment. She didn't like to taste of liquor and he didn't fancy making cute, little mixed cocktails. Beer was also a no go, as it made her feel sick. Despite the fact that neither of them were of age to drink alcohol in Nevada, procuring the beverages wasn't that difficult. Stein had his sources within the Meister and science community to get them something to drink. He made sure to get something sweet, even if he didn't like it, but no less strong.

Marie might have been a subject in his experiment, but he didn't want her to be unhappy during it.

Stein did not reflect on why this mattered when it did little to affect the results of the experiment, especially when it had never mattered before. Spirit certainly hadn't been a happy (or always knowing) subject and it had never bothered Stein then. He told himself that her unhappiness would be an extraneous variable that could possibly cause the alcohol to have a negative effect.

Except now those effects that he'd been so careful to catalogue at first were on the backburner. For some reason, the glow of Marie's smile became more important than how unfocused her eyes were and her ability to transform into a partial Weapon form didn't catch his attention quite the same way as the way she giggled. She would curl in on herself, bringing her legs to her chest, and roll back into the couch as she giggled, even if there was nothing really funny happening. He found it strange that his heart would leap whenever she brushed against him, completely oblivious, or why he even noticed every small touch or the blush in her cheeks.

"You're so tall," Marie gushed, not for the first time tonight. Stein didn't respond, just as he hadn't before. It didn't phase her. This time though, she rocked forward, unlatching her arms from around her legs, and reached up so that she could run her fingers through his prematurely grayed hair. He had difficulty breathing steadily for a moment, but he didn't look away from her or blink as he gathered himself together. "Sometimes, it looks like you're tall enough to touch the sun."

At this, Stein did roll his eyes. She said some of the most ridiculous things sometimes. Of course he wasn't tall enough to touch the sun, although he looked at it often enough. It grinned down at him as maniacally as he felt sometimes, as if tempting him, and there were days when it was all he could do not to grin back in return. He knew it would look weird if he did. Usually, he didn't care, but with Marie whistling at his side half the time, he refrained from any particularly unusual behavior. She wouldn't mind, but he still held himself back.

"I can't touch the sun, Marie," Stein settled on saying.

Marie jumped up, her eyes glowing excitedly as she looked at him. "What about the moon then?" She scampered over to their window, throwing it open and allowing a cool breeze to flow into the living room. She stretched out a hand towards that eerily grinning half moon and closed her hand around it like she was actually holding it. And then she pulled her hand back slowly and dropped it at her side, her back still facing him as she gazed out the window. "Everything's so far, so high up, it's like I can't ever reach them."

She sounded so profoundly sad that Stein found himself standing up and saying, "I can help you with that," before he even thought about what he was doing. He didn't know why those words came tumbling out of his mouth. He blamed the alcohol. After all, he was a subject in his experiment as well.

Stein kept himself steady and looking forward as Marie turned around to face him. She blinked as she gazed at him, not saying anything at first. It wasn't uncomfortable, though it did strike him as unusual. Marie was chatty as it was, but the more alcohol she consumed, the faster and more she spoke. Besides, Stein was the one prone to random bouts of silence. For a moment, he wondered if she was waiting for him to say something else or maybe he'd said something wrong. He didn't know why that would be the case though. Help was considered a good thing, wasn't it - and a rare, precious commodity coming from him.

"I want to touch the ceiling," Marie finally said. Not expecting such a simple answer, Stein arched an eyebrow. That was apparently enough of a response to cause her to huff and stomp over towards him. "You do it all the time! Just stand up straight - you slouch so much - and stretch your arms and your fingers brush the ceiling. It drives me mad."

"Jealous?" A lazy grin wound its way onto Stein's face.

Marie folded her arms across her chest. "No."

He hadn't always been so tall. As a kid, he had been short and scrawny, nothing to write home about. As for as Meisters went, he was fairly below average in the height department. Wielding Spirit in his Weapon form had been difficult and clumsy at first until he'd gotten the hang of it and then no one would mess with him. Stein had to wonder if maybe he'd tried to overcompensate with how vicious and cold he'd been those first few years at the DWMA, as if protecting himself, but then that was ridiculous. That was something Marie would've thought. She had only known him briefly during that time before he shot up like a tree and was the tallest person in the DWMA, even taller than students older than him.

Stein breathed through his nose. "Okay."

"Okay?" Marie tilted her head. Alcohol did not make it easier for people to understand one another, especially someone as taciturn as him.

"I'm going to help you touch the ceiling," Stein told her.

Marie's arms dropped to her side. "How are you-?"

But he didn't let her finish the question. In a few long strides, Stein was standing right in front of her - and then he picked her up. Marie squealed, half in delight and half in shock, and immediately started to flail out of habit. She typically hated it when guys picked her up, treating her like some sort of doll, but a large part of their Meister and Weapon relationship required him to pick her up and hold her. Of course, she was always in her Weapon form then. Physically, she was bigger and heavier in her human form, but in a strange way, she felt lighter as well. Softer, gentler.

Once she stopped struggling, Marie peered down at him, her cheeks a bright red. "What are you doing?"

"I told you," Stein replied, "helping you touch the ceiling." If she could've blushed further, he thought she would have. Instead, she trembled faintly in his hands. It wasn't out of fear. He didn't know what it was out of though. "Now let's get you on my shoulders."

There was definitely an easier way of doing this. He should've set her back down, hunched over, and allowed her to crawl onto his back and then his shoulders. He could have let her stand on the couch first to give her an advantage. As it stood, she was already in his hands and he was loathed to put her down for some reason. A part of him thought that he should analyze why he felt that way, but another part of his mind skittered away from such stray thoughts.

Somehow, clumsy as it was, with a lot of grunting and gasping and at least one knee to his face, the two of them managed to get into position. Marie sat precariously on his shoulders, taller than she would ever be, with her legs on either side of his head as he held onto her thin ankles. It was a good thing that she was wearing pajama pants instead of her usual skirt or this would've been a very awkward position.

"Ow!" Marie squeaked.

Stein relaxed his grip on her ankles. He hadn't realized that he was holding onto her so tightly. After mumbling an apology under his breath, she sighed and pat him on the head to tell him that she forgave him. Carefully, he walked around the apartment with her swaying slightly on his shoulders. Under normal conditions, this would have been much easier, but after consuming a bunch of alcohol, Stein found that even his coordination and balance was impaired. Marie, who had insisted on matching him drink for drink even though she was significantly smaller, was in an even worse state, but she was determined nonetheless.

"Stop moving!" Marie told him as she let go of him to reach up to touch the ceiling.

She was not making this easy. Stein grit his teeth. He was trying to stand still, but it was difficult with a squirming girl sitting on his shoulders. She kept wiggling a maddening amount, driving him to think about other things. Since when had he ever thought about what it would be like for Marie to wiggle, squirm, and gasp on top of him - or underneath him? The alcohol was betraying him. He'd never think these things if he was sober. Marie was his partner, his Weapon, his roommate, his fellow classmate and current subject of an experiment.

She was not, in any way-

He didn't want to touch her like-

It was-

Absurd. Outlandish. Unthinkable.

But what would it feel like to run his hands from her ankles up her legs? She had very smooth skin.

Just as Marie excitedly exclaimed, "I got it!" Stein let go of her ankles. Having very little balance, Marie tumbled backwards, yelping in terror, seeing as how she was very high up. Stein attempted to quickly correct himself, reaching to grab her again and leaning back at the same time, but instead he managed to trip over his own foot and he too stumbled backward as he snatched one of her bare feet. The end result had Marie collapsing on top of him as he fell on the floor, but, he thought while gasping for air after having the wind knocked out of him, at least he'd managed to soften her fall.

It felt like they were a tangled mess of limbs and flesh, Marie lying on top of him as he laid on the ground on his back. He distinctly felt her warm and soft body pressed against his and willed his body to not react. That would've only made things worse. How would he possibly be able to explain to Marie that he had no control over his own body right now - that the alcohol had taken control? He would never be able to drink around her again. No, he could never drink again.

Marie groaned and then rolled off of him onto the floor next to him. "You're a clumsy drunk."

"I'm not the one that was swaying like they were a flag in the wind," Stein pointed out.

"It was high up and scary!" Marie protested.

Stein snorted. "You've face how many demon souls and being on top of my shoulders was scary?" He turned his head to glance at her, his glasses still askew. "Do you trust me so little?"

"No, I-" Marie clamped her mouth shut and then bit her lip. She looked him directly in the eyes and for a brief moment she wasn't unfocused at all. "I trust you with everything. You know that."

An uneasy, almost fearful feeling took over him, making his stomach flip, Stein frowned. "You shouldn't. Marie, I'm not-"

Marie slapped a hand over his mouth, effectively shutting him up, and glared at him with enough heat to make the sun blink. "If you even think about finishing that sentence, I will knock you out."

Despite himself, the frown was replaced by a grin behind her hand and he nodded his head. No doubt she would knock him out. A hit from Marie was formidable even when she wasn't in her Weapon form and he'd been hit by both before during training when she was still paired with Kami. She smiled in response, pleased with him, and slowly pulled her hand away from him. Only then did she start giggling, quietly at first, until her whole body was wracked with laughter and she had to wrap her arms around herself like she might burst at the seams.

Stein didn't laugh as well - didn't even feel the urge to do so like other people would - but he didn't need to. The grin on his face spoke enough for her. He was…pleased to have helped her accomplish something, even if it was something as small as touching the ceiling. But he knew that it was more than that. As long as they were partners, he would help her do anything she wanted - becoming a Death Weapon, making her happy. He could do that. It made him feel like a real person when he was able to do things like make her smile. She'd do anything for him as well, but honestly, this was enough.

Oh, hell. He was not going to drink for a long time. Alcohol did some pretty weird things to his train of thought.


End file.
